INDIANAPOLIS - As the start whistle echoed from the rafters of the Indiana Pacers' basketball stadium and the non-existent crowd sat silent, it reminded me more of my days in age group swimming than a world champs. Of course it's only heats and it's the first event, but this morning the arena had an eerie and rather uncomfortable feeling.

The big question of course, is not whether they will fill the tens of thousands of seats in Conseco Fieldhouse, (they have sold over 8000 tickets a night) but whether the swimmers have yet to recover from the Olympic Games. Michael Phelps (USA) has never really known what it's like to not swim until this summer, taking no more than a 3 day break in all his years of swimming. On the other hand Aaron Peirsol (USA) tries to take a month off to surf each summer, but will have missed out on that refueling time in order to get back in the pool to prepare for this meet. It is short course though, so anything can happen.

Men's 200 Free
Rick Say (CAN) appeared to be the only swimmer awake in the men's 200 free, qualifying first in 1:45.15 ahead of Ryan Lochte (USA) in 1:46.26 and Phelps in 1:46.46. Say placed 6th in this event in Athens, but other than Phelps none of his competitors are here. Ian Thorpe (AUS), Pieter vd Hoogenband (NED), Klete Keller (USA) and Grant Hackett (AUS) are all still on vacation after Athens.

Men's 100 Back
Thomas Rupprath (GER) led out the heats in 51.74 ahead of Peter Marshall (USA) in 52.53, Matt Welsh (AUS) in 52.73 and Piersol in 53.05. Piersol looked his usual laid back self, but time will tell if he can get up for tonight's semi. Rupprath looked strongest, but perhaps Marshall, who missed the US Olympic team, will be the most hungry for the win.

Women's 200 Fly
US workhorse Kaitlin Sandeno (USA) started her meet out looking strong and in control, however, her teammate Mary Descenza (USA) will head into tonight's final in top spot with a 2:08.66. Sandeno touched in 2:08.67, with Audrey Lacroix (CAN) qualifying for lane 3 with a 2:09.00.

Men's 100 Breast
Vladislav Polyakov (KAZ) looked great and was smiling after his 59.45, but he was no match for a very strong Brendan Hansen (USA) with a 58.82. Hansen will be looking for gold after picking up two silvers in Athens, although his rival, Kosuke Kitajima (JPN), decided to forgo this meet. Brenton Rickard (AUS) was the second qualifier with a 59.83.

Women's 100 Back
Erin Gammel (CAN) took advantage of Natalie Coughlin and Laure Manaudou's withdrawals to snag the top seed of the morning with a 1:00.30 followed by Sophie Eddington (AUS) with 1:00.59 and Haley Cope (USA) in 1:00.73.

Men's 100 Fly
While it was one of the most anticipated races of the Olympics, with Phelps watching from the pool deck, it looks like Ian Crocker (USA) will have an easy go of it. He qualified first in 51.47 to Peter Mankoc's (SLO) 51.88 and Evgeny Korotyshkin's (RUS) 51.98. James Hickman (GBR) leads a very small British team, but heads into tonight's semi in 4th spot.

Women's 400 IM
Kaitlin Sandeno swam the toughest double around; after finishing the 200 fly less than an hour ago, she was back in the pool, dropping an easy looking 4:37.23. Katie Hoff (USA) was the top qualifier in 4:36.13 and will be eager to redeem herself after failing to qualify for the final of this event in Athens. Lara Carroll (AUS) and Liz Warden (CAN) finished in 3rd and 4th, with the bronze medallist in this event from Athens, Georgina Bardach (ARG), making it into the final as well.

Men's 4x100 Free Relay
The USA should dominate all six relays here in Indy and they started out well, grabbing the top spot for tonight's final with a 3:11.18 to Brazil's 3:12.30. Canada sits in 3rd spot with 3:14.80 after Mike Mintenko scratched the 100 fly to prepare for the relay.